B. Bira

A member of the Chakri dynasty, Bira was a grandson of King Mongkut. His mother died when he was four, and his father died while he was at school in England. He was sent to Europe in 1927 to attend Eton College and was placed under the guardianship of his cousin Prince Chula Chakrabongse, who became his legal guardian and later his team patron. On leaving Eton in 1933 Bira initially explored sculpture, studying under Charles Wheeler and attending the Byam Shaw School of Art, before motor racing drew his complete attention.

Bira first raced at Brooklands in 1935, driving a Riley Imp for his cousin's team, White Mouse Racing. In that car he established the national motor racing colours of Siam: pale blue with yellow. He raced under the name B Bira. Later in 1935 Prince Chula gave him an ERA voiturette — chassis R2B, nicknamed Romulus — and Bira finished second on his ERA debut despite stopping for repairs. He and Prince Chula acquired a second ERA, R5B, named Remus, for 1936, giving the White Mouse team a two-car ERA fleet plus a Maserati 8CM. Bira won four races in the ERAs during 1936 and took the Coupe de Prince Rainier at Monte Carlo, the high-water mark for the White Mouse team.

For 1937 White Mouse purchased Dick Seaman's Grand Prix Delage along with all spare parts, but the cars underperformed despite considerable investment and the engagement of experienced engineer Lofty England, later Jaguar's team manager. A newer C-Type ERA, chassis R12C, was also acquired and named Hanuman after the Hindu deity, with a large silver badge depicting the god attached to the car. Following a major 1939 accident the car was rebuilt and renamed Hanuman II.

After the war Bira returned to competition with several teams. He took part in the inaugural 1950 World Drivers' Championship racing a supercharged Maserati 4CLT/48, finishing fifth at Monaco and fourth at Bremgarten that season for eight points and eighth in the Championship standings. The 1950 campaign was his most competitive at Formula One level. In 1951 he raced an old Maserati 4CLT fitted with a newer V12 OSCA engine but scored no championship points amid poor performance and a serious accident. He competed across five seasons and 19 World Championship Grands Prix, scoring points in only one further race after 1950: a fourth place at the 1954 French Grand Prix at Reims driving his own Maserati 250F. Outside the World Championship, he won the Grand Prix des Frontieres on the Chimay road circuit in 1954. In January 1955 he won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore in a Maserati 250F, and retired from front-line racing at the end of that season.

Bira returned to competition briefly for the one-off Macau Grand Prix Race of Giants in 1978, finishing 13th.

Bira had a strong interest in aviation and undertook several long-distance journeys in light aircraft and gliders; in 1952 he flew from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini. During the Second World War, when motor racing was suspended, Bira applied his skills to training Royal Air Force fighter pilots, eventually becoming chief instructor at the St Merryn Royal Naval Air Station with a specialisation in glider-pilot instruction.

Bira competed in sailing events at four successive Summer Olympics: the 1956 Melbourne Games in the Star class, the 1960 Rome Games in the Star class, the 1964 Tokyo Games in the Dragon class, and the 1972 Munich Games in the Tempest class.

Bira died on 23 December 1985 at Barons Court underground station in London after suffering a major heart attack. As he carried no identification, his body could not immediately be identified; a handwritten note in Thai found in his pocket eventually led to the Thai Embassy confirming his identity. A Thai funeral service was held at the Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon, followed by cremation according to Thai and Buddhist tradition.

The Bira Circuit near Pattaya, Thailand, the first motor racing circuit in the country to meet FIA standards, was built in his honour. He is credited with establishing the national racing colours of Thailand — pale blue and yellow — and a 2016 mathematical modelling study ranked him 43rd among all Formula One drivers of all time. In 2001, in an academic ranking of Formula One drivers by relative influence, Bira was recognised as one of the sport's significant pre-war and early-championship competitors.